Automatic inking machine for typewriter ribbons and the like, with uninked portions



Patented Aug. 23, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC INKINGMACHINE F B TYPE- WBITER RIBEONS AND THE WITH UNINKED roa'rIoNs PhilipMannino, new York N. Y. Application November 16, 1935, Serial No. 50,112

' 9 Claims. (Chill-18) This invention relates to new and useful imandIll held in fixed positions by a plurality of provements in an automaticinking machine for transverse members hereinafter further detypewriterribbons and the like, with uninked scribed. An inking device is mountedupon said portions, treated portions or both. body and includessuperimposed inking members The invention has for an object theconstrucll' and li -A pair of superimposed endless tion of a device asmentioned which is charactercarriers l2 and I2? are also mounted on saidized by a ribbon inking device including superbody and are equipped withprotection strips imposed inking members, and a pair of super- I3adapted to be periodically engaged against imposed endless carriersequipped with protection the top and bottom sides of said ribbon webstrips adapted to be periodically engaged against and protect portionsthereof from receiving ink. 10 the top and bottom sides of a ribbon orribbons A means is synchronized with said protection guided and drawnbetween said inking members. strips for applying shellac or otherprotective ma- Furthermore the invention contemplates theterial on allor part of said uninked portions of association of means synchronizedwith said prothe web.

tection strips for applying shellac or other pro- The ribbon inkingdevice consists of a plurality 15 tection materials on all or a portionof each of of rollers contacting with each'otlier for transsaid uninkedportions of said ribbons. ferring ink from an ink reservoir l4 mounted Afurther object of the invention is the prowithin said body. The rollersof the inking device vision of a winding mechanism for winding up areconnected with each other by a train of meshthe inked ribbons, and adriving mechanism for ing gears l5 upon the shafts of the rollers. 20the endless carriers arranged with a slip mecha- A motor I6 is mountedupon the body and nism, so that the endless carriers may at any drivesone of the rollers to cause all of the rollers time, operate at the samespeed as the winding to rotate. A plurality of webs of material ll",mechanism. il and I! are guided between the inking mem- It is a furtherobject of this invention to make bers II and ll to receive inktherefrom. These 25 provision for adjusting the operative sizes of thewebs extend over guiding elements it and I9 inking members and theshellac applying means. which are in the form of bars transversely Stillfurther the invention contemplates the mounted between the sidewalls ofthe body. The construction of a device as mentioned which is webs aredrawn from rolls 20 mounted upon a 0 simple and durable and which may besold and shaft 2i which is engaged into slots 22 in the manufactured ata reasonable cost. body, so that it may be readily removed. The

For further comprehension of the invention; webs are drawn upon rolls 23mountedupona and of the objects and advantages thereof, refershaft 24supported through slots 25 in the side ence will be had to the followingdescription and walls of the body, so as to be rotative. Protectionaccompanying drawing and to the appended interleaving strips 26are'drawn from rolls 21 5 claims in which the various novel features ofupon a transverse shaft 28 supported in slots the invention are moreparticularly set forth. 29 formed in the side walls of the body. TheseIn the accompanying drawing forming a mainterleaving strips serve tohold the turns of the terial part of this disclosure;- inked ribbonseparated.

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a device The shaft 24 is drivenwith a slip pull con- 1O constructed according to this invention, this,view traption. There is a pulley 30 upon the shaft 24 being taken onthe line i! of Fig. 2. I which is engaged by a belt 3! which canslipwhen Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line @2-3-2 necessary. Thisbelt 31 engages over the pulley' of Fig. 1. 32 of an electric motor 33.

5 Iig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line The endless carrierscomprise a plurality of 3-4 of Fig. 1. transverse shafts 34 and 34'equipped with Fig, 4 is a perspective view of the member sprockets 35and 35' located near the side walls 1 for controlling the operative sizeof the shellac of the body "and engaged by endless chains 36. applyingelement. The top carrier has two of said endless chains 36,

'50 Fig. 5 is an'elevational view of the shellac anand the bottomcarrier is similarly constructed.

plyin el m n wi h th m m r shown in Fig. 4 The adjacent portions of thechains 35, namely. applied. the portions 36' are held in parallelism bytrans- The automatic inking machine for typewriter verse bars 38 and 38.The bar 39 is also equipped ribbons and the like with uninked portionsinwith tension elements '40 engaging one side of the cludes a bodyhaving side wallsor frame In ribbons. The tension elements 4. engage the55 lower surface of the ribbons and press the ribbons against the bar 38and cause suflicient tension to prevent the ribbons from becoming slackbetween the rollers II and I I b and the daubing elements 53. The chainsalso pass between grooved guiding portions upon the ends of the rollersII and At regular intervals there are said protection strips which aremounted between the chains of the carriers. These protection strips arecapable of passing between the rollers H and li for protecting portionsof the ribbons from being inked. The rollers ll and ll may be of a softmaterial to allow the protection strips l3 to pass between them. Theroller H has the conventional rectangular bearing housing which permitsthe bearing to slide and separate from roller l I as the protectionstrips l3 pass between them.

The carriers are driven in unison by a chain 45 mounted betweensprockets 46 on the shafts 34'. These shafts are driven positively witha slip forward arrangement. There is anelectric motor 41 mounted uponthe body and is equipped with the usual speed reducing attachment andhaving a shaft 48 with a sprocket 49 which is engaged by a one wayratchet 50 mounted upon the side of the lower sprocket 35. Thearrangement is such that the motor 41 may rotate the sprocket 35' andhence the carriers. Should it so be required, the carriers may movefaster than the driving action of the motor by a relative movement ofthe ratchet 50 and the sprocket A9.

The means for applying the shellac or other protective materials on allor portions of the uninked portions of the ribbons consists of areceptacle 52 for liquid shellac or other material, into which dabbingelements 53 engage. These dabbing elements have arcuate sides adapted toengage the ribbons and cut out sides which do not reach the ribbons.This permits the dabbing elements to assume inoperative positions. Thedabbing elements 53 are removably fixed upon a shaft 54 which isrotative between the walls of the body. A beveled gear 55 is mountedupon one end of the shaft 54 and meshes with a gear 56 from a reductionsystem of gears within a reduction unit 51. This reduction unit isdriven by electric motor 58 which is mounted upon the body of thedevice. The motor 58 is controlled by a switch including a stationarycontact 59 and a movable contact 60.

This movable contact is fixed upon a stem 6|- which is swiveled in thewall l6.

An adjustable tail 62 is mounted upon the stem 6i and is in the path ofmotion of the protection strips B or a suitable projection on chain 36,by which the switch is operated. A spring 63 is mounted upon the stem BIand is connected between the tail 62 and the wall lo for normallyholding the movable contact 60 in an open position. The circuit is onlyclosed when the tail 62 is moved and held by a passing protective stripI3.

A transverse sp'lash guard 64 is mounted between the sidewalls of thebody immediately behind the dabbing elements 53. An electric. heater 65is'mounted upon the bottom of the receptacle 52 by which its contentsmay be kept soft and mobile. A transverse guiding rod 66 is locatedimmediately above the dabbing elements 53 and is urged downwards bysprings 61 to a neutral position. This guiding element 66 is slidable invertical slots 68 in the side walls of the body.

The protection strips l3 have removable strip sections [3' by whichtheir operative widths may be changed. Thusthe lengths of uninkedportions may be controlled. In order to correctly shellac the uninkedportions of the ribbons, cover pieces 53' for the dabbers are provided.These cover pieces may be slipped on or taken off from the dabbers tochange the sizes thereof. These covers 53 have edges 53 which areadapted to frictionally engage the dabbers. In Fig. 5, one of the covers53 is shown mounted upon a dabber 53. The thickness of the dabber issuch as to compensate for the removable sections of the protectionstrips. The dabbing elements 53 may be removed from the flange 56' ofshaft 54, by lifting the free end of a retaining spring 53. The otherend of this spring is secured to the back of the dabbing elements 53.The dabbing element is also provided with a counterweight portion 53 tokeep the dabber in normal starting position and may be replaced by otherdabbing elements of different peripheral lengths so as to regulate thelengths of the ribbon to be treated. These counterweight portions 53 areformed of a heavy substance and provide a sufficient weight to make the,armature of the motor 58 turn to a proper position while the motor is inthe idle position.

The operation of the device is as follows:-

The motor 33 draws the ribbon upon the rolls 23 and at the same timedraws the interleaving strips 26 between the turns of the rolls. Thewebs of ribbons receive ink from the inking members II and .ll

Periodically the protection strips i3 from the carriers will engageagainst the top and bottom sides of the ribbon webs and pass between theinking members II and ii", and so shield portions of the ribbon fromreceiving ink. The endless carriers are operated in unison by the motor41.

The protection strips l3 after passing between the rollers H and llproceed along and engage the tail 62 of the switch 59, 60. The circuitis thus closed through the electric motorwhich functions to lift orrotate the dabbers 53 to apply shellac upon the uninked portions. Themachine is so designed that the switch 59, 60, will be held closed thecorrect period of time because the switch 59, 60, cannot be opened untilthe protection strips l3 come in contact and pivot the adjustable tall62 down causing the contact 60 to move up and close the switch whichstarts the motor 58. The guide rod 66 will maintain contact between theribbons and the dabbing elements within slight changes of sizes of thedabbing elements due to the engagement and removal of the covers 53.

It is to be understood that the inking machine or parts thereof may beof any suitable size, shape and proportion and built for inking eitherone or more ribbons of any color, of the usual standard width or forinking of a wide ribbon which may be cut into a number of standardwidths after the inking is applied. Instead of separate motors, onesingle motor may be arranged to supply the motive power for the machine.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdelined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:-

1. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink, andmeans synchronized with said protection strips for applying shellac orother protection material on all or part of said uninked portions ofsaid web.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink. saidinking device having an ink receptacle for supplying ink, and aplurality of transferring rollers.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink, saidinking-device having an ink receptacle for supplying ink, and aplurality of transferring rollers, and means for rotating said rollers.

5. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions'thereof from receiving ink, saidguiding and drawing means comprising transverse guiding bars, and rollsfor receiving the web, and means for rotating said rolls.

6. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members. a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink, saidguiding and drawing means comprising transverse guiding bars, and rollsfor receiving the web, and means for rotating said rolls, including abelt which may slip.

7. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink, andmeans synchronized with said protection strips for applying shellac orother protection material on all or a part of each of said uninkedportions of said web, comprising a reservoir for shellac or material,dabbing elements engaging in said reservoir and engageable against saidribbons, means for operating said dabbing elements, and an electricswitch controlled by said protection strips for controlling theoperating means of said dabbers.

8. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink, andmeans synchronized with said protection strips for applying shellac orother protection material on said uninked portions of said web,comprising a reservoir for shellac or material, dabbing elementsengaging in said reservoir and engageable against said ribbons, meansfor operating said dabbing elements, and an electric switch controlledby said protection strips for controlling the operating means of saiddabbers, said protection strips having removable end sections forchanging the lengths of uninked portions of the ribbons.

9. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a ribbon inkingdevice thereon and including superimposed inking members, means forguiding and drawing ribbon webs between said inking members, a pair ofsuperimposed endless carriers on said body and equipped with protectionstrips adapted to periodically engage against the top and bottom sidesof said ribbon web and protect portions thereof from receiving ink, and

means synchronized with said protection strips for applying shellac orother protection material on said uninked portions of said web,comprising a reservoir for shellac or material, dabbing elementsengaging in said reservoir and engageable against said ribbons, meansfor operating said dabbing elements, and an electric switch controlledby said protection strips for controlling the operating means of saiddabbers, said protection strips having removable end sections forchanging the lengths of uninked portions of the ribbons, and saiddabbers being provided with removable covers for changing their sizes tocoact with a change in their operative sizes of the protection strips.

PHILIP MANNING.

